The medical knowledge of the time were limited which reflected on the medical services that were available in the Crimea to help the sick and wounded soldiers. How were the medical services organised? * 1853, the Army Medical Department + the Ordnance Medical Department were moved under Dr Andrew Smith. * Had not been done before as the Duke of Wellington had opposed reform of the medical system. * Andrew Smith had to create a war-ready department from scratch. * Dr Smith was told that the British force would have 10,000 men.
He had no wagons, no stretcher-bearers + no doctors. * Colonel Tulloch used his staff who were forced on the battlefields as stretcher-bearers for the wounded + dying, removers of the dead and as general servants. * Lord Raglan believed that only 4 doctors per 100 men would be necessary. * The 2 designated hospital ships at Varna in August 1854 were taken over as troop transporters + it wasn’t until early in 1855 that 4 hospital ships were in operation. * In order to make way for troops, the captain off-loaded the medical supplies stacked on board but weren’t found until 4 months later, by which time most were unusable. The effectiveness of the British approach to the organisation of medical services is summed up by Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Sterling. Where were hospitals established? The major base hospital established in Scutari could accommodate around 6,000 men. Across the Black Sea, 4 hospitals were set up. What treatment was available? * Amputation of shattered limbs with 25% chance of death * Anaesthesia was used – limited impact + only a sufficient supply. * Shot was gouged out of bleeding flesh + gaping wounds were stitched * 4/5 of all casualties were a result of illness – only 1/5 were the product of enemy action.
The Term Paper on Medical Law Exam Notes
... Unemployment benefits; Pharmaceutical benefits; Sickness and hospital benefits; Medical and dental services (but not so as to ... have got TB etc) Sometimes the Health Department must be notified of certain illnesses and ... surgeon as expressed by Jones in Medical Negligence: “A medical man who holds himself out as ... specialist about your condition Mason and McCall-Smith argue that lack of consent to the ...
Clean water and sanitation * The biggest problem faced: the provision of clean water+ sanitation. * Hundreds of men, camped with barely a change of clothing and faced appalling weather + supply conditions. * Lack of washing facilities in hospitals led to lice infestation+ to the risk of typhus and typhoid. Lack of sanitation led to dysentery and cholera. * British forces suffered 18,058 casualties in the war, but of these only 1,761 were killed by enemy action. The remaining 16,297 died from their wounds/disease. * In the winter of 1854-55, over 1/3 of the British Army died from disease. SHORT USEFUL video: http://www. outube. com/watch? v=ro_HZC5oYqc Mind map the medical services that were available in the crimea war and the problems with it. Available: * Scutari hospital (can accommodate 6000 men) and 4 others in the Black sea region * Amputation, Anesthesia, shot * 1855 that 4 hospital ships were in operation. Problems: * Medical knowledge at the time * Army pensioners as stretcher bearers etc. * Infections * Only 4 doctors per 100 men! * Unorganisation of medical services such as when there war no wagons, base hospitals, no stretcher-bears and no doctors when Dr Smith was informed of 1000 men in the British force.
